AGL Energy is seeking federal environmental approval for plans to build a very large, four-hour big battery and connect it to the grid near the small rural town of Nebo in Queensland’s Mackay hinterland, the fourth battery project it has unveiled for the state.
The 500 megawatt (MW), 2000 megawatt-hour (MWh) Mount Britton Battery this week joined the queue for assessment under the federal EPBC Act, seeking the green light for construction on farmland currently used for grazing horses.
The AGL project is planned for a spot wedged between the Nebo Junction Accommodation Village and the Nebo substation, where Powerlink’s main 275 kilovolt (kV) grid splits off to supply power to Mackay on the coast.
It’s a popular spot: To the north is Ace Power’s proposed 900 MW, 3600 MWh Nebo battery energy storage system (BESS) and directly adjacent to that is Iberdrola Australia’s proposed Burrenbring battery, a 1000 MW, 4000 MWh unit that may also come with a wind farm.
Directly west of the Nebo substation, Queensland transmission company Powerlink wants to put one of four synchronous condensers (syncons) it’s planning to install by 2029, giant spinning machines that are used to provide similar grid stability services as coal or gas turbines.
AGL, which remains the biggest generator of coal in the country, although it has a growing portfolio of big batteries, including the newly completely Liddell installation, says it might take a two-staged approach to building the Mount Britton battery, or it might install all 500 MW of capacity at once, according to its referral to the EPBC.Â
What it will have to do is clear nearly half of the tree-covered site, with 11.1 hectares deemed “habitat critical to the survival” of koalas.
“The ecological assessments identified several threatened and migratory fauna species with potential to occur within the project area, including the koala, squatter pigeon, northern quoll, greater glider, and white-throated needletail,” the EPBC referral says.
“However, despite robust plans to avoid, minimise and mitigate, the project is expected to result in a significant impact on koala.”
AGL stresses that it’s tried to keep development within areas with fewer critical trees, but it will still need to do substantial clearing and remove two farm dams which “provide habitat and resources for threatened fauna.”
What the project will do is avoid 11.3 hectares of land where trees and other vegetation will be kept.
AGL, like the other two big gentailers Origin Energy and EnergyAustralia, has gone big on batteries which function as a replacement for peak price-setting gas power stations.
All three have been criticised for not investing more deeply in generation. As it stands, of AGL’s current 23 projects under development, 14 are standalone batteries.
Three have wind as part of the project, and four are centered around gas power.
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